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Should heterojunction solar technologies be temporarily shelved? Could copper plating replace screen-printed silver conductive surfaces in cells? Why are tandem cells a likely successor to PERC? Brett Hallam recently sat down with Natalie Filatoff in Sydney to explain the findings of a new study by UNSW that sought to answer these controversial questions.

Proton Motor Fuel Cell and xelectrix Power have also developed a complete system that combines fuel cell and battery storage technologies and U.S.-based Plug Power is building a 100 MW electrolyzer in Egypt. Furthermore, Germany said it wants to deploy 10 GW of hydrogen capacity by 2030 and South Korea unveiled its hydrogen strategy.

The country’s cumulative PV capacity reached 13.3 GW at the end of September. This year’s growth was triggered by a strong increase in utility-scale solar projects.

Finland-based fairway maintenance service provider Arctia Group is developing solar-powered navigational markers through an EU-funded research project. A 10-meter high solar buoy is currently being tested by the Ports of Stockholm.

Furthermore, polysilicon manufacturer Daqo will increase investments in its plans to expand capacity and Canadian Solar closed a strategic co-operation agreement with battery giant CATL.

Scientists in the United States pieced together data from hundreds of different sources, looking to establish the key factors that have led to consistently falling prices for lithium-ion technology since their commercialization thirty years ago. They find that public-funded research, primarily in chemistry and materials science, has made the largest contribution to cost reduction. And they offer suggestions on policy and investment to ensure that the research can continue to make these important contributions to reduction in battery costs.

The Eastern European country is expected to reach 10 GW of solar capacity by the end of 2022, according to the Polish research institute Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej. This projected growth should materialize despite a strong contraction in the distributed generation segment.

Through the procurement exercise, the Portuguese authorities want to select floating PV projects between 8 to 10 MW in size. Six water reservoirs have already been identified for their deployment.

Manufactured by scientists in Italy, the 3.88%-efficient organic solar panels are able to filter the light from the roofs of greenhouses. They are also capable of supplying a portion of the electricity required to power the greenhouse’s temperature and humidity sensors.

U.S. solar thermal specialist Fafco is set to launch a new photovoltaic-thermal heat pump solution for water and pool heating. The system consists of photovoltaic-thermal panels, a 5 kWh thermal battery with a heat pump, and an electric hot water heater.